Application to strike out

in the case of Mr Leon – v – Trans Global Freight Management Limited the Respondent’s representative had written to the Claimant on a couple of occasions requesting disclosure of documentation. However, the Claimant failed to respond and the Respondent consequently wrote to the Tribunal requesting a Unless Order.

The Claimant failed to comply with the Unless Order and the Respondent subsequently asked the Tribunal to strike out the claim. Unbeknown to the Respondent, the Claimant had been remanded in police custody for a period of time and had therefore not had access to the correspondence from the Respondent or the Tribunal.

The EAT concluded that a Tribunal should exercise its discretion in considering whether to strike out a claim where a party has failed to comply with a Tribunal Order, especially where the Claimant had been remanded in custody and had been unable to access his mail.